1. Field
The current disclosure relates to voice communications, and more particularly, to conference mixing techniques.
2. Background
The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Conference call technology enables multiple participants, or conferees, to communicate with each other over a network. Various currently used conference call technologies employ Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP), which uses the Internet Protocol (IP) to enable communications over a network, such as the Internet. Conference call equipment typically uses conference mixers which are configured to receive and process audio signals from each of the conferees, and to output appropriate signals to each of the conferees based on conference mixing algorithms.
The design of conference mixers faces various challenges, including: the avoidance of treating background noise as a voice signal, which degrades conference quality, managing multi-talk periods when several conferees are talking simultaneously, maintaining a natural flow in a conference despite interruptions by previously inactive conferees, and maintaining smooth transitions among conferees that avoid clipping off of a conversation as it passes from one conferee to another.